Pink and Red
by Pikachumaniac
Summary: Despite a resolution to be romantic, Seto ends up coming home so late that it isn’t even considered Valentine’s Day anymore. Luckily though, Otogi has a backup plan. Very quick Valentine fluff, Seto&Otogi.


Title: Pink and Red

Author: Pikachumaniac

Summary: Despite a resolution to be romantic, Seto ends up coming home so late that it isn't even considered Valentine's Day anymore. Luckily though, Otogi has a back-up plan. Very short Valentine fluff, Seto&Otogi.

        By the time Kaiba Seto got home from work, it was three in the morning and could no longer quite constitute as being _that_ day anymore. That explained, at least, why his raven-haired koi was curled up on the couch fast asleep when he entered the mansion, and he stood there dumbly for a moment before loudly cursing every single employee at Kaiba Corporation.

        The curses easily jolted Ryuuji out of his light sleep, and large emerald colored eyes blinked laboriously before they came to focus on the blue-eyed CEO who was still so busy making threats that he didn't even notice the awakening. "Seto?"

        The flurry of insults immediately halted as Seto turned to face his lover who would have been staring at him if it wasn't for the fact that he was having trouble focusing his eyes at the moment. He opened his mouth to say something but for some reason decided that it was best not to and wait for Ryuuji to make the first move in case the dice master was just getting started.

        "You're late."

        Ryuuji was hoping for a sulky tone, but his mind was yet to start functioning properly so all he got was that very blunt observation.

        "I know," Seto replied simply as he walked over. Luckily, Ryuuji had enough presence of mind to scoot over in order to give the taller man room, and Seto accepted the seat gratefully. He was a little worried about how Ryuuji hadn't started to yell at him yet, considering all the plans the two had had before he'd suddenly got a panicky phone call at two in the morning telling him that there was some emergency he had to attend to. The 'emergency', of course, had been caused by the absolute stupidity of some now-fired morons, and it had taken him all day to figure out how to fix any of it.

        But even though his being late technically wasn't his fault, Ryuuji still had a tendency of getting angry very easily. It was a little bit more reasonable this time since he hadn't even _called_ to explain the circumstances, but there had simply been no time. And as the hours had gone by and it had gotten later and later, Seto had actually dreaded making the phone call. Ryuuji wouldn't be happy – not that he was either – and he would be sure to get that point across to the brunette as loudly as he possibly could.

        This though, was a new development. Ryuuji hadn't even glared at him yet, although that might have been the fact that he was still trying to get the sleep out of his eyes. Seto could never figure out how his lover could be _so_ disoriented after sleeping, but it was sort of endearing in its own way so he never said anything.

        He pushed these thoughts out of his mind as he looked into those large, cat-like eyes which currently seemed to be torn between glaring and completely drifting off again. And finally remembering the bouquet of roses that he was clinging on so tightly to, he held up the blood-red flowers to the other man.

        "Here."

        As Ryuuji blinked at them, Seto couldn't help but see that the petals were painfully wilted, even though the man who had sold them to him had reassured him (repeatedly, one may add) that they were fresh. Inwardly, he cringed. By this point, even he was starting to think that Ryuuji would be justified if he suddenly went into one of his hissy fits, and he would have welcomed it. This calm, accepting silence was really starting to freak him out, although that was probably due to a bit of worry that the game inventor was suddenly going to fall over and flat out faint. And then Seto would have to take him to a hospital to make sure that he hadn't hurt himself, and then Ryuuji was going to wake up, and _then_ Ryuuji would have his no-longer-rightfully-deserved-hissy-fit in front of _all those people_ and he sure as hell was not going to appreciate that.

        "Aww, for me?" The words came a bit too late – it was also to be expected, as Ryuuji was currently acting on time-delay – and they were a mix between actual enthusiasm and blatant sarcasm. Seto wasn't quite sure how that worked, but Ryuuji always managed to make it happen. It always drove him nuts, but he couldn't help but like it anyway.

        "Yes, for you," Seto bopped Ryuuji on the head very slightly with the roses, which didn't really help their condition as a couple of the petals fell onto the long ebony locks, standing out almost violently against the dark backdrop. "You didn't think I forgot, did you?"

        "I didn't know what to think."

        That immediately caused Seto to sober up as he placed the flowers down on the coffee table and pulled his boyfriend closer. Ryuuji rolled his eyes but allowed it to happen, and there was a silence as the two sat there, both lost deep in their thoughts.

        At least, that's what Seto assumed was happening. He was proven wrong when the sound of snoring happily made itself known, and he let out an irritated sigh.

        It was to be expected, of course.

        _Of course_, his mind muttered sardonically. It was to be expected. Yes, just as that idiotic phone call from that idiotic and incompetent moron(s) was to be expected. And just like the fact that he was going to be staying at the office for basically _all_ of Valentine's Day was to be expected. Only to come home and discover that Ryuuji had actually tried to stay up for him, only to fall asleep as soon as he got home. Yes, yes, all of that was to be expected.

        And yes, he was bitter. He had a right to be. He really had planned for this day, even though he wasn't really the type of person to get all bent out of shape when it came to this romantic whatnot. Truth be told, he had always found it rather silly… but Ryuuji had enjoyed this type of stuff. And he had wanted to make it nice for him, even though he was supposed to be a heartless bastard who didn't care about what others wanted.

        Ryuuji was different though. He was the first person who Seto had cared about since Mokuba, and Mokuba had needed to get away from the suffocating hold his older brother had on him. Ryuuji, on the other hand, enjoyed the attention yet managed to keep himself far enough away so that it never became too overwhelming. It was a balance that he never could have created on his own, yet it sometimes seemed like the raven-haired man had just swept in and done it all with a snap of his fingers.

        Scowling at the dying roses as he hoisted his sleeping lover into his arms after he had stood up, he started to walk to their bedroom slowly and calmly. Not to imply that he felt calm, of course, That was the last thing he was feeling.

        He wondered what had happened to all the plans he had made for them to do that day. He'd had reservations and promises and all that stuff… and none of it was going to happen now. Oh, it could happen later, but it wouldn't exactly be the same, would it? No matter what he did to make it up, he doubted it was going to erase the fact that he had basically not seen his koi for the entire duration of Valentine's Day. This was the type of thing that tended to annoy romantics, and Ryuuji was a romantic… in that odd way of his.

        Those weren't the only things he wondered about. He wondered what Ryuuji had done that day… wondered what he had thought when he had woken up only to discover that Seto had already gone off to work. He'd been pissed, no doubt… probably threw his tantrum right there.

        Seto also wondered why Ryuuji never called.

        It hadn't occurred to him until then, and he wondered what had brought it about. But the question was an interesting one… no matter how many times he'd tell his flamboyant boyfriend _not_ to call him at work unless it was an emergency, he'd still find himself being sucked into a conversation about the most useless things. And he would never hang up, not even when he was in the middle of an important business meeting. Because, in a way, Seto was a romantic too. The kind that believed that nobody was more important than your loved one, and that person should come ahead of everything else.

        Even if he was prattling on about stuffed seals, just to see how much they could annoy you.

        So it wasn't like Ryuji had suddenly become shy or something. He simply hadn't called. And Seto found that just as strange as the fact that rather then go off the wall, Ryuuji was now sleeping very peacefully in his arms. For lack of anything better to say (he had been awake for about twenty-four hours, after all, and did not need to sound coherent when nobody else was paying attention to his thoughts except his very incoherent mind), the other man looked positively adorable at the moment.

        Unfortunately, that just made it worse. He really, really, really had planned for this day. That fact just kept screaming in his mind, and he was starting to feel like he should drive over to the homes of the people who had caused this mess in the first place and scream at them a bit more. It just wasn't fair, the fact that he had tried to do the one thing that nobody thought he would have. He wasn't a show-off romantic, after all. Besides, Ryuuji was enough of that for both of them.

        But sometimes, being around his koi, he wanted to do these types of things. It wasn't that he had to prove his love or anything of the sort – he just wanted to. It wasn't like he particularly enjoyed this holiday. But this was the first time that there had been something special about it, and he had so wanted to have it live up to those expectations. 

        Of course, then fate came around and decided to screw it all up as usual.

        He was really starting to wonder if there was some type of conspiracy going on against him. It was quite possible… perhaps it was an alliance between his enemies and… his other enemies. There were quite a few of them hanging around, anyway.

        Sighing again as he walked up the staircase with Ryuuji happily curled up in his arms (for somebody who was supposed to be fast asleep, the raven-haired man was certainly latching on with great gusto), he decided that the best remedy for all of this was just to make it up to the other man. Somehow. It might make him feel better, and more importantly, it would probably make Ryuuji feel better. As for his minions… well, they were screwed no matter what type of mood he would be in the next time he saw them, so they had no choice but to hope that their measly efforts might make him feel better. Perhaps he should get a couple of them to wait hand and foot on his lover… wouldn't Ryuuji like….

        All his thoughts completely dropped off as he entered the bedroom that he now shared with Ryuuji. They hadn't lived together long so the room was still mostly his, but it had now suddenly been transformed into something completely unrecognizable.

        Everything… _everything_… was now draped in pink and red. An excessive amount of pink and red, mind, and the sight was enough to make his eyes boggle. In fact, he was somewhat surprised that he hadn't yet dropped Ryuuji on the ground.

        It looked like the game inventor had been very busy while he was gone… the pink and red was the least of it, but there was sparkly heart confetti sprinkled all over the bed and carpet. That was going to be a pain to clean up later, but that was the maid's problem and he kind of liked the effect it had on the place, even if it was a bit over the top. Ryuuji was an over the top individual anyway, so it suited him nicely. Roses nearly overfilling the many vases around the room created a perfume that was almost sickening, and on the bed was a giant white teddy bear with a red ribbon holding another batch of roses.

        Seto figured that there was probably a message behind all of this, although he wasn't quite sure.

        "I was thinking about screwing the bear if you didn't come home."

        Raising an eyebrow, the brunette looked down into Ryuuji's large green eyes. "I thought you were supposed to be asleep."

        "And miss your reaction?" Silence. "I used your credit card, by the way."

        "I figured. You always were cheap."

        "You can afford it," Ryuuji replied haughtily as he pulled himself up as best he could to plant a sloppy kiss on Seto's cheek. "Happy Valentine's Day."

        "It's the fifteenth," he reminded him with an annoying grin.

        Ryuuji snorted, "If I had known you were going to be this ungrateful, I would have screwed the bear."

        "It's my money."

        "I thought it was the thought that counts?"

        Seto grinned as he laid Ryuuji down on the newly-bought red silk sheets, tucking him in before giving him a quick kiss on the forehead, "Go to sleep."

        "Way ahead of you," the raven-haired man smiled sleepily before immediately drifting off. It wasn't long before he was snoring lightly again, and it wasn't until then that Seto finally started to cross the room so that he could get into bed himself. He couldn't help but smile as his slippered feet made an odd crunching sound as he stepped onto the confetti. Yes, Ryuuji could go way overboard when it came to things like this… but the results were not really too bad.

        The bear was staring at him, so he amended that thought to _mostly_ not too bad. Eyeing the bear for a couple moments, returning the glare, he picked it up by one furry paw and casually tossed it over his shoulder. The sleeping form didn't even stir as it smacked into one of the vases, causing it to fall over and spill water and roses all over the ground.

        As for Seto, he watched the water soak into the carpet for a couple seconds before climbing into bed. It looked like the smell might be more difficult than before to get out, but he wasn't about to complain. Ryuuji would, of course, get mad at him for treating his gift so badly… but that was a part of who he was and in his own way, it was his way of making it last longer.

        Quickly turning off the lights and hiding himself from the atrocities of his room, he wrapped his arms around his smaller lover and pulled him closer, enjoying the feel of the soft breath dancing across his cheek. It might even have been perfect if it wasn't for the fact that the smell of roses made him want to sneeze.

        Since he was Kaiba Seto, and Kaiba Seto was not a romantic, he let himself do just that.

        But then again, since Kaiba Seto was also a Kaiba Seto who was madly in love with Otogi Ryuuji, he leaned over to whisper something into his ear before drifting off himself.

        "Happy Valentine's Day, Ryuuji."

Commentary:

[1] Koi, short for 'koibito' which means lover.

Hmm… can we say sap overload? ^~

Anyhow, I know I'm a bit late, but I didn't have time to finish up until pretty late and by then, I didn't want to go on-line and publish it (I just wanted to be like Ryuuji and _sleep_). Besides, I figured that since the story itself really takes place on the 15th, I might as well wait and publish it then.

*waves* Happy Valentine's Day, mina-san. I hope it wasn't as bad as theirs. P

PM

February 14, 2004


End file.
